Mystics 80, Fever 89

NOTEWORTHY:

The Washington Mystics dropped their fourth consecutive game and remain winless at home this season

The Indiana Fever outscored the Mystics 29-15 in the second quarter, which brought the Mystics within three points at halftime. The Mystics previously had their biggest lead of the game 24-13 at the end of the first quarter

The game featured three lead changes and three ties. The Fever led by as much as six points in the game

The Mystics were led by forward Crystal Langhorne who scored a game-high 23 points along with nine rebounds. Langhorne also collected two steals in the Mystics loss

The Indiana Fever bench scored 52 of the team’s 89 points while the Mystics bench produced only 19 points off the bench. The rookie duo out of Duke University scored all the Mystics bench points; Karima Christmas scored 13, while Jasmine Thomas added six points

The Indiana Fever were led by Shavonte Zellous who scored a season high 21 points from off the bench. Zellous shot 7-for-9 from the field, 1-for-3 from three-point range and 6-for-7 from the free throw line. Zellous also blocked three shots. Guard Briann January added a season high 18 points, shooting 9-for-10 from the free throw line. January also dished out nine assists.

Center Jessica Davenport contributed 18 points and collected six rebounds from off the bench in the Fever win. The Fever were playing without their star player, Katie Douglas, due to a lower back contusion

WASHINGTON MYSTICS HEAD COACH TRUDI LACEY:

Overall thoughts on the game:
“It was a tough game for us. I thought the execution at times was very good. The rookies are getting better, learning to play at this level, learning what it takes to win at this level. That certainly was a positive. I thought we did a very good job in the second half pounding the ball inside, particularly to [Langhorne]. Overall, we are improving. We know that it’s a process, especially with such a young team. We’re on the right path. We just have to continue to get better.”

On the Mystics’ breakdown in the second quarter:
“Again it was their offensive execution. They turned up the heat. They’re a veteran team, a team that went deep in the playoffs. We mishandled some possessions, gave up some easy baskets. I think they went on an 11-0 run and came back and took the lead. What I will say about this team is that we have a big heart and they fought back and just learning how to execute at the end of the game to pull out some wins is what we need to do.”

On Kelly Miller’s progression:
“Kelly has been playing very well and part of it is us still getting to know each other. We would have a game where a couple of players have played well and then we will have a game where a couple of players will play slow. So part of it is a process of us learning each other, learning to play together.”

WASHINGTON MYSTICS PLAYER CRYSTAL LANGHORNE

On losing the lead in the second quarter:
“They made a run. They changed up their line-up to a smaller line-up and they really got things going. Tamika Catchings kind of got them going and we started turning the ball over a little bit.”

On bringing the intensity next game as the team did in the 4th quarter:
“We are just going to keep working. We have more time, these gaps in between games are going to be really good, just so that we can work on stuff and keep getting better. We have so many new people, so many young people that it is going to take time for use to really get together.”

WASHINGTON MYSTICS PLAYER JASMINE THOMAS

On bringing the defensive schemes from practice into the games:
“Just going at it in practice. We go really hard in practice and we are getting better at our communication and our chemistry and you need chemistry on defense the same you do on offense. I think that is still something we are building on and it is getting better.”

Thoughts on the game:
“I thought we started off fairly sluggish. I feel like we looked like this was our third game in five days all across America, from Seattle to Phoenix and here to Washington. I thought we made some adjustments and put some high energy players in there, defensively. These were players who hadn’t really gotten a lot of minutes across the trip. I thought we started defending much better. I thought we did a really good job with their three’s only three. I feel that we did a good job making it really hard for Langhorne and Anosike to catch the ball in the paint. I thought we executed our game plan offensively, which was to attack in the two-man game, get to the rim, and go inside to our big people. I thought it was a really gut-check effort for us. Especially being at the end of a long trip, we’re tired, I’m tired but we played well.”

INDIANA FEVER PLAYER TAMICA CATCHINGS

On the Fever’s second quarter run:
“Coming off of two loses against Seattle and Phoenix, one of our main goals was to come in and win and not go home with three road losses. We came out with a lot of energy. Our bench was amazing tonight with Katie [Douglas] not playing. We had people that stepped up that needed to step up. It was a good game for the coaches and for us, as a team, to be able to get that chemistry going.”

On the importance of the bench’s performance:
“It’s very important. The talent pool, when you’re looking at it, it’s so slim. Every single game is important and every single player on the team is important. You never know when it’s going to be your time to step up and have to fill in, whether it’s a starter or if you coming off the bench. I think that over the last couple of games, even though we lost, our bench has stepped up and produced big numbers.”

INDIANA FEVER PLAYER SHAVONTE ZELLOUS

On her performance coming off the bench:
“Coach Linn [Dunn] always tells us “you never know when your opportunity presents itself.” Tonight was my opportunity. I just came out and played and helped us with this win.”